Toy coin projecting pistol



Nov. 22, 1949 H. F. BURT ET AL 2,488,950

TOY COIN PROJECTING PISTOL Filed oct. 27, 194s l H l lI Judd Y `I'llllll||||lluIlmmlllllllllulllul muuu- "mi lll Fim?" 24 INVENToRs.

Patented Nov. 22, 1949 UNITED roy com rnomcrnvo rrs'ror.

Harold F. liiurt, Wilmette, and Adolph Theis, Aurora, ill., assignors to Silver-King Corp., a corporation oi illinois Application (ictober 27, 1948, Serial No. 56,875

3 Claims.

In certain types of amusement devices a spring-actuated gun is used to shoot coins or similar objects at a target. Since such devices are usually operated without an attendant to supervise their use, they are subject to a considerable amount ofabuse. As a result the device must be sturdy, simple, and fool-proof to prevent their being constantly laid up for repairs.

The operator of a place of business frequented by the public may have one or more of the machines in his place of business as an additional source of income. Those persons often are not mechanically inclined, and for a machine to be repaired by them it must be such that, at best, only a rudimentary knowledge of mechanical structures is required.

Furthermore, to obtain the broadest possible market for thedevices it is necessary that the manufacturing cost be brought to an absolute minimum. To do this the least number of parts must be used, and each part must be so constructed that the manufacturing process necessary to turn out the part is as simple and as inexpensive as possible.

The principal objectof our invention is to devise a gun for an amusement device that will satisfy theserequisites. As will hereinafter be- :ome apparent, a minimum number of parts are required; the manufacturing tolerances of the parts are not critical; and simple methods of forming Athe parts may be used. Yet when assembled, the gun is sturdy `and is able to withstand alarge amount of abuse without any imoairment of its simple, positive operation.

`A further advantage is the ability of the iwner to remove vforeign materials from the gun Barrel without the necessity of dismantling the gun. For some unexplicable reason, children ieem to `delight in stuffing paper or other obects .into the gun, possibly to see if they can be ihot'therefrom. Invariably the objects will clog ;he barrel, and in the past it has been necessary ;o disassemble the gun and clean it before it :an again be placed into operation. We have Jrovided means for cleaning the barrel without 'esorting to the time-consuming job of removing t from the amusement device and taking the gun Lpart.

Additional objects and advantages will be- :ome apparent from the following description 2 taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective View oi an amusement device of the type with which our invention is used;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the gun with a portion broken away to illustrate the trigger and hammer mechanism; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the sear used in the hammer mechanism.

Fig. 1 illustrates an amusement device l) in which the player shoots a coin from a gun ll at a target I 2. After each time a coin is shot from the gun, plunger i3 may be pulled to release a gum ball into .receptacle lll. An opening l is provided in the center of target I2, and if the player is able to shoot the coin through opening I6, the coin is returned into receptacle l?. The upper surface of the amusement device is usually covered with a glass or plastic hood (not shown). If desired, the machine may be used for dispensing confections other than gum.

The gun is suspended from the front of the machine by means of a pair of trunnions 2l attached to either side of the gun body, which trunnions are suspended in internal openings in a pair of brackets 22 attached to the front face of the amusement device IQ. Brackets 'Z2 are held in place by means of bolts projecting through the front face of the amusement device, the heads of the bolts being reached from the inner side of the amusement device.

The body of the gun l! is formed from two castings 23 and 2i which are held together by means of three screws 25. An internal opening 2l is formed within the barrel of the gun during the casting process, the size of the opening being determined by the dimensions of the coin 28 which the gun is to accommodate. At the breach end of the gun an upwardly projecting chute 29 is formed to permit the insertion of the coin, and this chute communicates with barrel opening 2l. A hammer 3l, having a downwardly projecting arm 32, is pivotally mounted within the gun body by means of a screw 33 projecting through an opening in the lower end of arm 32. In Fig. 2 the hammer is shown in the released position in dotted lines and in the cocked position in full lines.

The upward forward portion of the hammer is cut away, as indicated at 34, to provide a shelf on which the coin may be caught when it is dropped into the loading chute, and also to form a striking face for projecting the coin when the hammer is released from the cocked position. A thumb latch 35 is formed into the upper rear portion of the hammer 3| to provide means for cooking the hammer.

A sear 31 is pivotally attached to the hammer by means of a cap screw or rivet 38 passing through opening 39 in the scar and being afIiXed to hammer 3|. The forward end of sear 31 is abruptly reduced in height to form a notch 4| in the lower edge thereof. A stop 42, which is made from a screw threaded into side 24 of the gun body, is adapted to be engaged by notch 4| of the sear 31 to hold the hammer in cocked position. The rearward end of the sear is beveled upwardly, as indicated at 43, coming to a slightly rounded point adjacent the upper edge of the sear. Beveled end 43 projects slightly beyond the rear edge 44 of hammer 3|.

A leaf spring 46, held between abutments 41 and 43 cast into side 24 of the pistol, is used for the dual purpose of providing the energy to project coin 2B from the gun and to bias sear 31 against stop 42 so that when the hammer is retracted into the cocked position, the notch 4| in the sear will drop behind stop 42. To achieve this the upper end of spring 45 is positioned to engage the beveled end 43 of the sear slightly above the pivotal axis of the attachment of the sear to the hammer.

The spring pressure is directly exerted against the portion of end 43 of the sear adjacent the Y upper edge thereof and serves to induce a counter-clockwise rotation of the scar with respect to the hammer. The spring pressure is indirectly communicated to hammer 3| through sear 31 to produce a counter-clockwise rotation of the hammer when it is released from the cocked position. An abutment on the forward edge of arm 32 of the hammer acts as a stop to limit the forward motion of the hammer by contact with an abutment 52 cast into portion 24 of the gun body.

A trigger 53 is pivotally mounted by means of screw 54 threaded into one side of the gun body. The upper portion of the trigger forms a cam 56 to engage the forward end 51 of sear 31. If the trigger is pulled when the hammer is in cocked position, the cam portion 56 of the trigger bears against nger 51 of the Sear, pivoting the sear in a clockwise direction about connection 33. The pivotal movement disengages notch 4| from stop 42 to allow the hammer 3| to be abruptly moved forward by spring 43 projecting coin 28 from the gun.

In the past when it was necessary to remove any foreign material from the gun barrel, the owner has been obliged to remove the gun from the amusement device I0 and dismantle the gun to perform the cleaning operation. This normally required removing the rear portion of the amusement device |0 to gain access to the screws holding bracket-s 22 to the forward face of the device and removing those brackets to allow the gun to be withdrawn. To eliminate the necessity of doing this we have provided a clean-out slot 6| longitudinally along one side of the gun barrel and communicating with opening 21 within the barrel. One end of slot 3| forms an enlarged opening 62. A similar circular opening 53 is formed in side 24 of the gun body opposite the enlarged opening 62 in side 23. Thus if any foreign material should become lodged in the gun barrel, a small tool may be inserted '4l Within slot 6| to move the foreign matter rearwardly into line with opposed openings 62 and 63 through which the foreign material may be removed.

From the foregoing description the simplicity of the construction of the gun will be apparent. The two halves 23 and 24 of the gun body may be formed of castings. The single, simple actuating spring 46 may be clipped from a strip of spring stock. The three moving parts-hammer 3|, sear 31, and trigger 53- may be formed by casting or blanking. The only other necessary parts are standard screws or rivets. There is substantially nothing to get out of order or to cause malfunction of the gun, but if, by any chance, that should occur, it would be easy for the most inexperienced novice to dismantle the gun, ascertain what the defect was, and make the necessary correction.

We claim:

l. In a gun of the type for use in an amusement device wherein a coin is shot at a target, the combination of a hollow gun body comprising separable halves, a hammer Within the gun body and pivotally secured at its lower end to the body and having a coin-engaging portion adjacent its upper end, a Sear loosely pinned to the hammer intermediate said coin-engaging portion and said pivotal connection with the gun body and eX- tending forwardly, said sear having a forwardly facing shoulder adapted to engage a projection on the gun body to hold the hammer in cocked position, a spring for urging the hammer andl searforwardly, and a trigger movably mounted on the gun body and having a Sear-engaging surface for di-sengaging said forwardly facing shoulder on the sear from said body projection whereby the force of the spring propels the hammer forwardly.

2. In a gun of the type for use in an amusement device wherein a coin is shot at a target, the combination of a hollow gun body comprising separable halves, a hammer within the gun body and pivotally secured at its lower end to the body and having a coin-engaging portion adjacent its upper end, a sear loosely pinned to the hammer intermediate said coin-engaging portion and said pivotal connection with the gun body and extending forwardly, said Sear having a forwardly facing shoulder adapted to engage a projection on the gun body to hold the hammer in cocked position, a spring for urging the hammer and sear forwardly, and a trigger movably mounted on the gun body and having a Sear-engaging surface for disengaging said forwardly facing shoulder on the sear from said body projection whereby the force of the spring propels the hammer forwardly, said spring engaging a rearwardly extending portion of the Sear above the center of said pinned connection, whereby the spring also urges the sear about its pivotal connection .with the hammer and into firm engagement with said projection on the gun body.

3. In a gun of the type for use in an amusement device wherein a coin is shot at a target, the combination of a hollow gun body comprising separable halves, a hammer within the gun body and pivotally secured at its lower end to the body and having a coin-engaging portion adjacent its upper end, a Sear loosely pinned to the hammer intermediate said coin-engaging portion and said pivotal connection with the gun body and extending forwardly, said sear having a forwardly facing shoulder adapted to engage a projection on the gun body to hold the hammer in cocked' position, a spring for urging the hammer and REFERENCES CITED sear forwardly, and a trigger movably mounted on the gun body and having a Sear-engaging surl'gref wltgegferens are of record in the face for disengaging said forwardly facing shoulp der on the sear from said body projection where- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS by the force of the spring propels the hammer forwardly, said gun body halves having transverse Nulggezrsz Wallame JuneDzaelu aligned holes adjacent to the forward position 720558 Buchgr-'al Feb 17 1903 of the hammer, and a forwardly extending slot 1 5502759 Swebmus Aug 25 1925 in one of the halves communicating with the i0 1768677 Fey July 1 1930 opening in said gun body half.

HAROLD F. BURT. ADOLPH THEIS. 

